The Jeesh Goes To Build-A-Bear Workshop
by rabbitarmy
Summary: It's Ender's tenth birthday and he wants to go to Build-A-Bear Workshop.


It's Ender's birthday and of course he wants to go to Build-A-Bear Workshop. He's turning ten years old, for crying out loud, but Val doesn't say anything and her parents don't care what Ender wants to do, they just want him to be happy on his birthday. Mostly because his past birthdays didn't turn out so well; once Peter stole the whole cake and locked himself in his room and ate it, and another time Alai threw up all over the floor after jumping in their rented bouncy house for an hour straight. Yeah. So that's how they all ended up at a Build-A-Bear Workshop on a pleasant Saturday afternoon.

Ender had insisted on inviting their whole "jeesh", as they all called it; it was a treehouse club that they had created a few years back in the late-July heat. So basically that meant all the kids on their block were coming to Build-A-Bear with them. Peter was forced to join them in order to "supervise," but they all knew that meant he would mope in the corner and Val, Dink, and Petra, being the very _responsible_ twelve year olds, would try and keep the younger kids under control.

So on Ender's birthday the Wiggins cram all of the kids into their two minivans and dump them at Build-A-Bear. John Paul and Theresa don't stay though, they speed away almost immediately after the kids exit the vehicles. Valentine figures that they're probably going home and getting slightly drunk with the other parents on the block. Typical.

Val sighs as Ender shrieks with delight and runs through the double doors, while making eye contact with Petra and Dink as they nod and begin to round up the other excited children. Peter lurks in the back of the group with earbuds in, probably listening to his punk rock or whatever the hell it is he listens to. Peter had tried to explain to Val "why punk rock music was important in life", but she didn't really like the provocative lyrics or the way the Dead Kennedys only talked about their issues with the government. Whatever, Peter could listen to his punk rock and be a sad, angry teenager in the back by himself. Val's wants to try to enjoy herself today.

Hopefully no one will have to go to the emergency room.

As they all walk through the doors to catch up with Ender, they're stopped by an overweight, middle-aged white dude who's name tag reads, "Graff". Graff attempts to smile at them but it ends up looking more like he's constipated and in need of serious help. He gives them the lowdown of the rules, clearly stating that there is no biting, kicking, hitting, screaming, stealing, or wrestling allowed inside of the Build-A-Bear Workshop.

Well this is going to be a problem, considering that sometimes Fly likes to pretend that he's a dinosaur. He thumps around and occasionally bites people when he's feeling like a particularly rebellious brontosaurus. Val prays to whatever god that's out there that the kids will behave. They do not need to be banned from another place; they had been previously banned from Chuck E. Cheese about a year ago. Val doesn't want to get into the details.

As soon as they're let loose, the kids go wild. Fly, Carn, and Hot Soup throw stuffing at each other, while Vlad and Dumper laugh uncontrollably at the other three boys. Their stupid nicknames only make the situation sound stupider. Dink had insisted that they all get clever nicknames for their treehouse club initiation. Most of them didn't keep their nicknames, because they're totally ridiculous, but Bean, Fly, Dumper, and Hot Soup did. Val had been a little sad when Petra hadn't kept hers though, she and Dink had thoughtfully cooked it up together. It's "Pet Rock" and Petra hated it so much that Val and Dink had laughed themselves to tears. Looking back on it though, Val doesn't know why they thought it was so funny. Her nickname is "Cupid," a _very_ clever nickname on Petra's account. When Petra had proudly presented Valentine with her new name Bean had very dramatically raised one eyebrow and said, "You think of that yourself?" He's really a very sassy boy, and he was only seven at the time. Petra had stuck out her tongue at him. Now nobody but Petra really uses the nickname, and even she only uses it when she's trying to annoy Val.

Val rolls her eyes and scans the teeming mass of children for her younger brother. She spots him at the stuffing station with Alai and Shen. They seem pretty happy. She then spies Bean and Nikolai dressing their bears. Both of them pretty much keep to themselves, they aren't too close with anyone else in the jeesh. Nikolai is kind and quiet and Bean is the youngest and overall pretty unlikable. It's hard to believe that they're brothers because they get along so well. Nikolai is a very tolerant person, so Val figures that's probably why they don't fight very much. She isn't completely sure, but she thinks she sees a small smile on Bean's face.

Petra and Dink then sneak up on Val from behind and both of them jump on her. What idiots. The three of them go crashing to the ground and Val almost immediately stands up, scoffing at the both of them as they giggle on the ground.

"C'mon, Valerie, let's go build some bears," Petra says as she wiggles her eyebrows. Petra sometimes like to be especially obnoxious by calling Val by the wrong name. "Quit worrying about the kiddies, I'm sure that old guy Graff can handle them right?"

They both get up off the ground and drag Val over to the first station to make her bear.

"I'm gonna go get Peter," Petra says. "He's needs to realize how joyous it is to build your own bear and dress it up in an absurd outfit."

Petra saunters away, leaving Dink and Val to banter back and forth and crack jokes about the people they see around them. Petra soon returns, dragging a grumpy looking Peter behind her.

"Now Peter," Dink says, "Remember that there's no biting allowed in the Build-A-Bear Workshop." He sounds uncannily like Graff, and Val is pretty sure she hears the woman supervising the station giggle a little. Her name tag reads, "Anderson".

Peter glares at the three of them, yanking an empty bear skin and angrily stuffing it with stuffing. He holds it up and raises him eyebrows as if to say, "Okay I made one, are you happy?"

Petra laughs and says, "You have to dress it up now!"

Peter throws a murderous look at them and stalks over to the dressing station. Val, Dink, and Petra follow close behind, grabbing their bears so that they can dress them while laughing at Peter as he dresses his own bear. They slow as they reach the table, Val eyeing Peter as he looks through the ridiculous costumes. Petra picks out a military uniform and puts it on her hot pink bear. This bear is the epitome of Petra's personality. Dink, still giggling wildly, either because he thinks this is all a joke (which is usually the case), or because Peter has actually dressed his bear. It wears a lovely train conductor outfit, and Peter tries to act like he's so above all of this and he's just so mature, but all of them can see the hearts in his eyes. He secretly loves his new bear. Val eventually chooses an overly frilly dress and a matching hat for her bear while Dink chooses a soccer uniform for his bear. Somewhat satisfied, Val announces that she should go round up the other kids, seeing that most of them are done and look like they're ready to leave.

It takes awhile, but Val eventually finds everyone. Ender, Alai, and Shen are smiling as they play with their bears together. Bean and Nikolai are also smiling, and Val watches as Ender invites the both of them to play with him, Alai, and Shen. The smiles widen. Fly, Hot Soup, Dumper, Vlad, and Carn have calmed down and are sitting in the chairs near the entrance, all of them clutching their bears. They're all only about a year younger than Val, but she's never been particularly fond of any of them. They smile politely at her as she passes by, for once not making an inappropriate joke. She nods at them and tells them that they're leaving soon.

Soon enough, two minivans pull up outside. The adult Wiggins climb out of their respective cars and pay for everyone's bears. They all climb back into the cars. Peter is still infatuated with his bear, and Dink and Petra have gone back to cracking obnoxious jokes. All of the other kids look tired and content. Val notices that Ender and Alai are holding hands as they fall asleep on the car ride home. The two of them are practically inseparable these days.

She smiles to herself and leans back in her seat, and when she opens her eyes they're back at the house. She must have fallen asleep. Looking around, she sees Petra and Dink snickering mischievously with pens in their hands. Where the hell did they get those? Crap. Val looks down to see her skin covered with ink. They drew all over her. She flips them off and they laugh harder, running into the house behind everyone else. She follows, muttering nasty insults under her breath.

When she gets inside, Ender's eyes are lit up, her parents had ordered one of those disgustingly sugary cakes from the grocery store. They all sing happy birthday and Ender opens presents. Surprisingly, nobody throws up or gets in a fight. Peter is surprisingly well behaved because he's so smitten with his bear. It's completely obvious now.

Once everybody leaves, the three Wiggin kids go to bed early. They're exhausted from a day well spent.


End file.
